Cold Reading: A New Pathfinder Feat

A tried and true technique used by charlatans, mesmerists, fraudulent mediums, and stage magicians, cold reading is a method of determining or drawing out details about another person using leading questions and statements and the study of the subjects body languages, speech, facial expressions, and other immediately obvious indicators of the subject's nature. Armed with this information, the cold reader is in a better position to manipulate the subject, draw out more detailed information the subject might otherwise think private, or pass oneself off as a psychic, medium, or other practitioner of supernatural arts.

For rogues, bards, and spellcasters who would rather save their spell slots, d-Infinity presents Cold Reading, a new Feat for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game for players and GMs who want to bring this classical form of chicanery into their campaign.

Cold Reading

You are skilled and assessing personal details about others with a glance and a word.

Prerequisites: Sense motive 5, perception 5.

Benefit: By interacting with and observing a subject for one minute you gain a bonus to all bluff, diplomacy, intimidate, and sense motive skill checks made against your subject for the remainder of the encounter. This bonus is equal to 1/2 your sense motive or perception skill rating, whichever is higher. In order to perform a cold reading, you must be able to speak directly with your subject and a language you both understand. You can only cold read one subject at a time. If you perform a cold reading on another during an encounter all benefits gained for the previous cold reading end. This does not prevent you form performing another cold reading on a previous subject to regains the benefits of this Feat.

Note: The subject of a cold reading who suspects foul play can make an immediate will saving throw (DC 10 + cold reader's bluff skill) to realize a cold reading is being performed. This knowledge does not protect the subject from the effects of cold reading, but the subject may move to quickly end all interaction with the cold reader.

Bonus Feat!

Shotgunning

You can perform an accurate cold reading in seconds by barraging your subject with rapid-fire questions.

Prerequisite: Cold Reading, sense motive 10.

Benefit: As a full-round action you can attempt a sense motive skill check (DC 20 + subject's Will save total) to perform a cold reading. All benefits and limitations of a standard cold reading still apply.